Friday, May 07, 2010

Hung Parliament?

Well, as one of my parishioners said, "Hanging is too good for them".
And here in Brighton we have elected the first and only Green MP in Britain.
What does it mean for the Church and Christians? I don't know. Presumably it means a government which is going to seek popularity, listening to the electorate, but which part of it?

The defeat of Evan Harris must be seen as a good thing: he has been a brutal opponent of the teaching of the Church and the natural law. That Johann Hari issued a tweet of regret about it should tell S.M.M readers all they need to know!Didn't a newspaper do a survey of Conservative Prospective candidates and find them rather more socially conservative? Another question: what major pro-life/ family issues might be dealt with by this parliament? So many were done over the last decade....

They will listen to the part which thinks like them, because only those who think like them are right, everyone else needs to be further educated.

The will of the people is shaped by their masters by the application of military and political force, propaganda, control of public opinion through the press, party organizations, assemblies, popular education, and schools to be in favour of whatever their rulers deem desirable.

I hope the so called Independent is not saying the hand of God is evidently displayed in our elections results! If he is then I would say think seriously!! I am being polite because it is very offensive to all of us.

We have elections here in the Philippines on Monday for everything from President to local councillor. Voters will have to fill in a two-foot long sheet on both sides and then put it in a computer, the first time this method has been used here. Nobody is sure that they computers will work or that there will be enough elctricity to power them, since many parts of the country have been having lengthy 'brownouts', as we call them here.

As usual, many have been killed during the campaign. Almost every loser will say he has been cheated, and very likely he will be speaking the truth. Millions of pesos have been spent by candidates for jobs that officially have small salaries.

At Mass this morning I told the people that it is our duty as Catholics to vote with the good of the community in mind. I told them that in the UK there was no violence, no accusations of cheating and that all the results were in by the following day, the first within an hour of polling ending.

I don't like the first-past-the-post voting system as it severely limits what a voter can say. Maybe the hung parliament will lead to a change there. But that's a matter for the voters of the UK.

However, the way the election was held, the way votes were counted openly, the way each winning candidate thanked the returning officer and his staff, the way the party leaders respect the electoral process, are all things that we here in the Philippines could learn from.

Tut! tut! Mr Mallinder - perhaps you should follow the contemporary fashion and complain to the police at having been offended?

I would not claim to discern the hand of the Almighty in the election results nor would I assert that His influence was absent. Either attitude would be grossly presumptious.

I was merely satirising the alleged certainty of one deceased politician that the Almighty was unambiguously on his side. Certain modern politicians of a Scots Calvinist persuasion would appear to share Mr Gladstone's view in their desire to cling to office.

Fair point Mike - from their reported bad language and their record on expenses it is far too flattering to call them, and Gordon Brown, Calvinist.However their sense of entitlement to office would suggest they consider themselves among the elect.

Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna

Pray for Francis our Pope, and for the Church of God

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